Apparatus for coating labels with adhesive and applying them to objects such as bottles

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for applying labels to bottles and the like has a pickup turntable provided with a plurality of pickup heads which are orbited successively past a coating station, a pickup station, and a transfer station. Each head has a pickup face formed as an involute, and each head is rotated about an axis in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the turntable. The coating station comprises an adhesive-coated drum over which the pickup face is rolled, by rotating it on the turntable at a periodically increasing rate so as to prevent relative sliding between the two elements. Thereafter the adhesive-coated pickup face is similarly rolled over the uppermost label in a magazine of labels. Thereafter the picked-up label is pressed against a transfer drum which grips one of its edges and the pickup head rolls again put of contact with the label. Thence the label is pressed against an object such as a bottle. The involute surface has a leading edge which is of larger radius of curvature than its trailing edge, this pickup face being tangential at the trailing edge to an imaginary cylinder centered on the respective center of rotation of the respective pickup head.

United States Patent [191 Tavernier 1 1 Dec.2,1975

[75] Inventor: Georges Antoine Tavernier, Lyon.

France [73] Assignee: Societe Anonyme Societe Nouvelle Baele Gangloff,Villeurbanne, France 221 Filed: Feb. 13, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 441,966

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 14, 1973 France 73.05857[52] US. Cl. 156/568; 156/571; l56/DIG. 32;

[51] Int. Cl.*.... B65C 9/16; B65C 9/22; B65H 3/20 [58] Field of Search156/567, 568, 571, DIG. 29, 156/DIG. 30, DIG. 32; 271/33, 95

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,546,047 12/1970 Dullinger156/571 3,567,559 3/1971 Dullinger 271/95 X 3,623,720 11/1971 Della Vite271/95 3,736,213 5/1973 Jorss et al. 1. 156/570 Primary ExaminerCharlesE. Van Horn Assistant Examiner-M. G. Wityshyn Attorney. Agent, orFirmKarl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for applyinglabels to bottles and the like has a pickup turntable provided with aplurality of pickup heads which are orbited successively past a coatingstation, a pickup station, and a transfer station. Each head has apickup face formed as an involute, and each head is rotated about anaxis in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of theturntable. The coating station comprises an adhesive-coated drum overwhich the pickup face is rolled. by rotating it on the turntable at aperiodically increasing rate so as to prevent relative sliding betweenthe two elements. Thereafter the adhesive-coated pickup face issimilarly rolled over the uppermost label in a magazine of labels.Thereafter the picked-up label is pressed against a transfer drum whichgrips one of its edges and the pickup head rolls again put of contactwith the label. Thence the label is pressed against an object such asabottle. The involute surface has a leading edge which is of largerradius of curvature than its trailing edge, this pickup face beingtangential at the trailing. edge to an imaginary cylinder centered onthe respective center of rotation of the respective pickup head.

9 Claims, 19 Drawing Figures EOATING DRUM US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet10f5 3,923,589

Sheet 2 of 5 US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 US. Patent 13 2, 1975 Sheet 3 of53,923,589

FIG. 8

FIG. 7

FIG. 6

FIG. v 4 FIG 5 U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet4 ofS 3,923,589

E W? v U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 5 of5 3,923,589

FIG. IS.

APPARATUS FOR COATING LABELS WITH ADHESIVE AND APPLYING THEM TO OBJECTSSUCH AS BOTTLES 1 CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION FIELD OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to a method of an apparatus forcoating the flexible sheet workpieces and displacing the coated sheetworkpieces. More particularly this invention concerns a system foradhesive-coating label blanks and applying same to containers such asbottles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a conventional labeling apparatus it isknown to stack the labels back side up in a supply or magazine adjacenta turntable provided with a plurality of pickup heads. These heads areorbited about an axis spaced from the label magazine and are each firstorbited through a coating station where a layer of adhesive is appliedto the outward face of the pickup head, and then the head is pressedagainst the topmost sheet of the stack so as to pick up this sheet andthence transport it to a transfer element which takes the label off thepickup head and applies it to a container.

There are two principal configurations in which the pickup heads aremade. In a common arrangement each pickup head has a face with a uniformradius of curvature centered on the rotation axis for the pickupturntable. This formation is disadvantageous in that'it limits thenumber of labels which can be carried by the pickup arrangement at asingle time since only a quan tity of labels having a collective lengthequal to the circumference of the pickup device can be held'on onerevolution of the device. In addition when the faces of pickup heads areso formed the arrangement must be rotated at a relatively low speed inorder to insure that picked up labels are not dropped.

In another known arrangement each pickup head has a radius of curvaturewhich is substantially smaller than the overall radius of the pickupdevice, so that the labels are curled around these smaller pickup headsand a relatively large number of such labels can be held on the pickupdevice at one time. One of the principal disadvantages of this latterarrangement is that the labels must be curled around each head and, whenrelatively stiff or inflexible labels are used, this frequently resultsin the labels being shed by the pickup apparatus as it rotates.Furthermore it is necessary to rotate and drive each of these individualpickup heads separately so that vibration and wear is greatly increased,which is particularly disadvantageous in this arrangement where thelabels are tightly curled since it further increases their tendency tofall off the pickup heads.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It-is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved apparatus for coating and displacingsheet workpieces.

i 2 Anotherobject of this invention is the provision of an improvedapparatus for coating labels with adhesive andapplying them toreceptacles such bottles.

Yet another object isto provide unimproved apparatus which overcomes theabove given disadvantages, that is which can operate at high speeds andrapidly coat and transfer alarge number of labels from a magazine toindividual receptacles.

SUMMARY 011 THE INVENTION .These objects are: attained according to thepresent invention in an apparatus having a rotatable turntable carryinga plurality of pickup heads each having a pickup face formed as a curvedsurface having a radius of curvature which varies over its length. Thissurface has at one end a radius of curvature which is centered on therespective axis of rotation of the respective head, and has anincreasing radius of curvature towards its other end, and each face hasa rectified length which is at least as long as the label to be pickedup from a stationary magazine adjacent the pickup turntable.

Accordingto yet another feature of the present invention the turntableorbits its plurality of pickup heads through three stations: an upstreamcoating station, a central pickup station having the magazine of labels,and a downstream transfer drum which takes the coated label and appliesit to a receptacle such as a bottle.

The first station comprises a cylindrical drum positioned adjacent thepickup turntable and partially immersed in a bath of adhesive. This drumis rotated in the opposite sense as the pickup turntable and as theindividual pickup heads are orbited past the drum they are rotated inthe same direction as the drum, that is opposite to the turntable, suchthat they roll over and osculate the surface of the drum, therebypicking up a very uniform coating of adhesive from this drum. The termroll here means that the two contacting surfaces have the sameperipheral speed.

The magazine according to the present invention is a simple openedboxfixed adjacent to the orbits of the pickup heads and holding a stack oflabels such that the uppermost label in the stack is presented to thepickup heads as they orbit past and this uppermost label lies in a planeparallel to the rotation axis of the turntable and to the rotation axisof the pickup heads, and spaced from the cylindrical orbit defined bythe pick-up heads by a distance equal to the smallest radius ofcurvature of the pickup heads. The pickup heads arerotated in a senseopposite to their direction of orbiting and are rotated in this oppositedirection at a varying speed such that the pickup face rolls over theuppermost label in the magazine and adheres to it, due to the adhesivecoating on this pickup face. The edge of the pickup face of largerdiameter is the leading edge first brought into contact with theuppermost label, and is henceforth the edge which frees it from thestack in the magazine. Since this region of the label is only subjectedto moderate bending, it adheres 'well to the pickup face and is removedreadily from the magazine, the other edge of the label' being bentaround a tighter radius once the label is mainly freed from themagazine.

The transfer drum in accordance with further features of this inventioncomprises an upright drum rotatable in the same direction as the pickupturntable and about an axis parallel to the pickup table. This transferdrum is provided on it periphery with a plurality of regularlyequispaced clamps which are operated so as to grip the edges of labelsadhered to the pickup faces as these pickup heads are orbited past thetransfer drum. The transfer drum is covered with a cushioning, resilientmaterial so that the labels may be readily pressed onto articles such asbottles. The pickup heads are again rotated in a direction opposite totheir direction of orbiting as the labels are peeled off them by theclamps on the transfer drum. This leaves the labels with their adhesiveside out.

Thus the apparatus functions as follows: the pickup turntable rotates ata constant speed and the individual pickup heads are first each rolledover a coating drum to coat their pickup faces with adhesive. Then eachcoated pickup face is rolled over the top of a stack of labels, to pickup the uppermost label in the stack. Thereafter the pickup face, whichis carrying a label, is rolled over the surface of a transfer drumprovided with clamps which grip the leading edge of the label and thelabel is transported, adhesive side out, to a station where it ispressed onto the surface of a bottle.

The shape of the pickup faces is generally of an involute, that is, itis a curved surface ofincreasing radius of curvature from a leading edgeto a trailing edge. The leading edge has a center of curvature whichcorresponds to the center .of rotation of the respective pickup head.This surface has a formula which is defined by the equation:

where r radius between a predetermined point on the pickup face and thecenter of rotation for the respective pickup head;

A the shortest distance between the center of rotation of the pickuptable and the uppermost label in the magazine;

R the distance between the center of rotation of the respective pickuphead and the center of rotation of the turntable, and

O the angle between the radius r and the starting radius r, of theinvolute surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features andadvantages will become more readily apparent from the following withreference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a horizontal section, partly in diagrammatic form, showing theapparatus according to the present invention; 7

FIG. 2 is a vertical section through a portion of the pickup turntableshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line IIIIIl of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 through 8 show consecutive positions of a pickup head as itrolls over the coating drum;

FIGS. 9 through 13 show consecutive positions of a pickup head as itrolls over the label magazine;

FIGS. 14 through 17 show consecutive positions of a pickup head as itrolls over the transfer drum;

FIG. 18 is a graph illustrating principles of the present invention; and

FIG. 19 is an enlarged-scale view of a pickup head according to thepresent invention and illustrating its shape. I

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows aturntable 2 rotatable about an axis hand carrying four annularly equispaced pickup heads 13 each rotatable onthe turntable 2 about a respective pickup axis a parallel to the axis b.A motor 36 rotates this turntable 2 so that the heads 13 orbit in adirection 12 first past a coating drum 3, then past a magazine 4carrying a stack of labels 5, and then past a transfer drum 6. The drum3 is rotated about an upright axis e by a motor 37 and the drum 6 isrotated about an axis d by a motor 38. The labels 5 are then applied tobottles 7 carried on another turntable 39 rotatable about an axisprallel to the axes a, b, d, and e.

More specifically as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the turntable 2 is comprisesof a pair of parallel plates 9 and 10 carried on a shaft 8 defining theaxis b. Each of the pickup heads 13 is carried on respective shaft 14defining the respective axis a and journaled in the upper plate 10 andlower plate 9. The shaft 14 carries below plate 9 a sun gear 17 meshingwith two planet gears 18 mounted on a planet carrier 19 freely rotatableon an extension of the shaft 8 and formed with an arm 28 carrying aroller 29 received in a slave-cam groove 30 formed in a base plate 40 ofthe apparatus. Also rotatably-mounted on the shaft 8 is a ring gear 20meshing with the two planet carriers 19 and formed with external teeth22 meshing with similar teeth 23 of a gear 24 centered on the axle 8 andfixed'to the plate 40. Thus,

with reference to FIG. 1 as the turntable 2 rotates in direction 12about axis b, that is counterclockwise, the gear 20 will turncounterclockwise, the planet gear 18 with similarly turncounterclockwise, and the gear 17 and the shaft 14 will turn clockwiseso as to rotate the head 13 in a direction indicated in FIG. 1 by arrow32 opposite to the direction 12. The cam groove 30 is endless but is notcircular in shape. .It has a noncircular shape in the region of coatingdrum 3, magazine 4, and transfer drum 6 so as to vary the rotationdirection 32 of the heads in a manner described below Each of the pickupheads 13 has an involute-shaped pickup face 15 having a leading edge 13aof relatively large radius of curvature and a trailing edge 13b ofrelatively small radius of curvature and having at edge 13b a center ofcurvature corresponding to axis a. The axis a lies on an orbit 0 whichis spaced by a distance r,, from the closest portion of the closestlabel 5 and from the surface of drum 3.

FIGS. 4 through 8 indicate how a pickup head 13 rolls over the surfaceof the drum 3 as it is rotated continuously in a direction 33 identicalto the direction 12 of rotation of the turntable 2. Starting from theposition in FIG. 4 where edge 13a engages the surface of adhesive-coateddrum 33 the rotation speed of the individual head 13 in direction 32 onthe turntable 2 increases by inward deflection of the roller 29 in camgroove 30. This means that for each rotation of the turntable 2 throughan anglefthe head 13 turns through an angle h, h h and h, whichincreases as the face 15 rolls over the surface of the drum 33.until theedge 13b of the face 15 leaves contact with this drum. Thus angle h isbigger than h which is bigger than angle h,, and so on, for a lightangle fof rotation of the turntable 2.

FIGS. 9 through 13 indicate how the face 15 rolls over the uppermostlabel 5 in the stack in the magazine 4, once again, rotating through theever increasing angle K K K and K while the turntable 2 rotates throughlike angles m. It can be seen that just before the head 13 leavescontact with the magazine 4 its axis lies in a plane P perpendicular to.the surface of the uppermost label 5, and parallel to a central axis x-xpassing through the center of the magazine 4.

FIGS. 14 through 17 indicate how the head 13 rolls over the surface ofthe drum 6 rotated in direction 34 opposite to that of direction 12. Thedrum 6 is provided on its periphery with a plurality of an -gularlyequispacedclamping fingers 41 which are actuated in steps with the driveof the turntable 2 so as to grip the projecting upper edge of a label atedge 13a of the face 15, and hold it as the head 13 rolls off anddeposits the label on the drum 6. In this case also for each rotation ofthe turntable 2 through an angle 0 the head 13 rotates about its axis ain an opposite direction through an ever increasing angle n ri and nonce again effected by inward deflection of the cam follower 29 ingroove It should be noted that the adhesive coating 43 originallyapplied to the head 13 is transferred to the labels 5 where thisadhesive coating 43 remains. Thereafter the labels 5 are pressed againstreceptacle 7 carried past the drum 6 in a direction 44 on the turntable39. The surface of drum 6 is made of a resilient, cushioning material sothat once the clamps 41 release the edges of 25 the label and theselabels are pressed against the bottle 7 they attach themselves securelythereto. Thereafter they may be more tightly secured to the bottles bymeans of a pair of cushioning rollers as described in my above citedcopending application.

FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate the exact shape of a pickup head 13. It canbe seen that if a plurality of radii r,,r, are drawn between the centera and points c spaced apart by a distance s on the surface of theuppermost label 5 that the orbit 0 of radius R will intersect all ofthese radii r-r along points corresponding to the path of travel of theaxis a of the pickup head. Assuming that the surface 15 has a radius ofcurvature r,, centered on the respective axis a at its leading edge 13b,then the following formula can be derived for the length of the otherradii r r,,, as follows:

Thus the surface 15 is formed by a family of parallel lines lying on aninvolute, having a plurality of surface points I, t,- t the latter lyingat edge 13a, which lie along the surface of an involute and which arespaced apart by a distance equal to s. In reality of course the surface15 is tangent to an imaginary cylinder centered on the axis a at theleading edge 13b and is of increasing radius of curvature all the way tothe end 13a, however here the reference to an original region having acenter of curvature lying on axis a is made for ease of description.

The use of an involute-shaped face 15 as described above has theadvantage that the labels 5 are not bent excessively just as they arebeing pulled from the magazine 4, since it has been found that trying tobend these labels around too tight a radius as they are pulled from themagazine 4 causes either subsequent falling of the labels off the pickuphead, or an inability to pick up a label, thereby spreading adhesiveover the transfer drum and requiring the machine to be shut down andcleaned. The apparatus according to the present invention can beoperated at relatively high speed and is quite simple to set up and use.

I claim: i 1. An apparatus for picking up a flat flexible sheet,

5 said apparatus comprising:

a turntable;

means for rotating said turntable about a turntable axis;

a stationary magazine holding a stack of sheets adjacent said turntable;

at least one pickup head on said turntable rotatable about a pickup axisspaced from said turntable axis and having a pickup face engageable withsaid stack of sheets and formed generally as a curved surface of varyingradius of curvature;

means for rotating said head on said support about said pickup axis assame passes said magazine and for rolling said face over said stackwithout sliding of said face on said stack; and means for adhering thetop sheet of said stack to said face whereby on rolling of said facethereover said sheet adheres to said face and is picked up by said head,said surface being defined by a family of parallel lines having a radiusof curvature decreasing from a leading edge to a trailing edge.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said means for rotating saidhead about said pickup axis includes drive means for rotating said headabout said pickup axis in a rotational sense opposite to that of saidturntable about said turntable axis.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 2 wherein said means for adheringincludes means for coating said pickup face with adhesive prior toengagement of same with said sheet.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 3 wherein said means for coatingincludes an adhesive-coated roller adjacent said turntable upstream ofsaid magazine relative to the rotation sense of said turntable andengageable with said pickup face.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein said drive means includes:

a sun gear connected to said pickup head and centered on said pickupaxis;

a planet carrier pivotal on said pickup axis and having a cam followerand at least one planet gear meshing with said sun gear;

a ring gear rotatable about said pickup axis meshing with said planetgear and formed with external teeth;

a nonrotatable gear centered on said turntable axis and meshing withsaid external teeth of said ring gear; and

a noncircular stationary cam engaging said cam follower.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 5, further comprising means fortransferring said sheet from said turntable to an object.

7. The apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein said turntable is providedwith a plurality of such pickup heads having respective pickup axesequispaced from said turntable axis and connected to said means forrotating said head for operation thereby.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 7 wherein the radius of curvature ofeach pickup face increases from a value equal to the radial distancebetween the respective trailing edge and the respective pickup axis to avalue such that the rectified length of said surface be- 7 s tween saidedges is at least equal to the width of said where sheets. r radiusbetween a predetermined point on the 9. The apparatus defined in claim 8wherein said fampickup f and the respective pickup axis; Y of lines hasthe cquationl S A shortest distance between the turntable axis and i thestack; .4 R distance between the pickup and turntable axis; r A CO 'V R2R angle between the radius R and a starting radius A at the leadingedge.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR PICKING UP A FLAT FLEXIBLE SHEET, SAID APPARATUSCOMPRISING: A TURNTABLE; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID TURNTABLE ABOUT ATURNTABLE AXIS; A STATIONARY MAGAZINE HOLDING A STACK OF SHEETS ADJACENTSAID TURNTABLE; AT LEAST ONE PICKUP HEAD ON SAID TURNTABLE ROTATABLEABOUT A PICKUP AXIS SPACED FROM SAID TURNTABLE AXIS AND HAVING A PICKUPFACE ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID STACK OF SHEETS AND FORMED GENERALLY AS ACURVED SURFSACE OF VARYING RADIUS OF CURVATURE; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAIDHEAT ON SAID SUPORT ABOUT SAID PICKUP AXIS AS SAME PASSES SAID MAGAZINEAND FOR ROLLING SAID FACE OVER SAID STACK WITHOUT SLIDING OF SAID FACEON SAID STACK; AND MEANS FOR ADHERING THE TOP SHEET OF SAID STACK TOSAID FACE WHEREBY ON ROLLING OF SAID FACE THEREOVER SAID SHEET ADHERESTO SAID FACE AND IS PICKED UP BY SAID HEAT, SAID SURFACE BEING DEFINEDBY A FAMILY OF PARALLEL LINES HAVING A RADIUS OF CURVATURE DECREASINGFROM A LEADING EDGE TO A TRAILING EDGE.
 2. The apparatus defined inclaim 1 wherein said means for rotating said head about said pickup axisincludes drive means for rotating said head about said pickup axis in arotational sense opposite to that of said turntable about said turntableaxis.
 3. The apparatus defined in claim 2 wherein said means foradhering includes means for coating said pickup face with adhesive priorto engagement of same with said sheet.
 4. The apparatus defined in claim3 wherein said means for coating includes an adhesive-coated rolleradjacent said turntable upstream of said magazine relative to therotation sense of said turntable and engageable with said pickup face.5. The apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein said drive means includes: asun gear connected to said pickup head and centered on said pickup axis;a planet carrier pivotal on said pickup axis and having a cam followerand at least one planet gear meshing with said sun gear; a ring gearrotatable about said pickup axis meshing with said planet gear andformed with external teeth; a nonrotatable gear centered on saidturntable axis and meshing with said external teeth of said ring gear;and a noncircular stationary cam engaging said cam follower.
 6. Theapparatus defined in claim 5, further comprising means for transferringsaid sheet from said turntable to an object.
 7. The apparatus defined inclaim 4 wherein said turntable is provided with a plurality of suchpickup heads having respective pickup axes equispaced from saidturntable axis and connected to said means for rotating said head foroperation thereby.
 8. The apparatus defined in claim 7 wherein theradius of curvature of each pickup face increases from a value equal tothe radial distance between the respective trailing edge and therespective pickup axis to a value such that the rectified length of saidsurface between said edges is at least equal to the width of saidsheets.
 9. The apparatus defined in claim 8 wherein said family of lineshas the equation: